Monster I've Become
by Scarpaw
Summary: Things go bump in the night, and they're scary. But, how scary are they once you become one of them?
1. Prologue: In The Darkness Of Night

Scarpaw here with her third Tales of the Abyss story, **Monster I've Become!** I hope you guys like it! n.n

**Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of the Abyss**

**Prologue of the Prologue**

Things go bump in the night. They always have, always will. It's just a fact of life, and nothing you can do is ever going to stop it.

Of course there are different types of the things that go bump in the night. There always has been, and that's just simply another fact of life.

There are the things that are just in your head, like the man in a cape that's really only a sweater hanging in your closet. The gnarled hand hitting against your window, wanting in, which is really only the branch of the tree outside your window clacking against it. There's also the creepy shadow creeping down the hall which is really your little sibling sneaking out of bed after bedtime for a late night snack.

Then, for every good thing, there is a bad one. The shadow in the hall could really be a robber slinking through the night, ready to steal all of your valuables and maybe kill your dog. The gnarled hand may actually be a freak with a knife, trying to break into your room to slit your throat and let your blood run in rivulets on your pristine white carpet. The man in a cape? He's your very own Count Dracula, hiding out in your closet, ready to suck out your blood in a moment's notice. No Edward Cullen in this reality.

So, as the sun sets over the horizon in the west, you best be locking you windows and doors and turning on your Winnie the Pooh night light, because something always goes bump in the night in somebody's house.

And tonight, it may just be yours.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Prologue (Real One)**

It was a cold, freezing night, and the wind howled furiously as the full moon peeked behind dark black storm clouds, brewing for a terrible storm. It was a horrible night in Baticul for anybody to be out walking the streets.

Too bad Luke fon Fabre wasn't just _anybody._

Yes, one Luke fon Fabre was out walking in this weather, Yulia knows why.

It's been three days since the Outer Lands have been lowered, and since Luke and company had defeated Van and sent him spiraling down into the core.

Three long, painful days that Luke had been separated from his friends.

Tear was back in Yulia City with Teodoro, her grandfather, helping out there.

Guy had quit his job as a servant in the Fabre household and was currently rebuilding his family's mansion with help from Peony, and (much to Guy's dismay) Jade.

Jade was back in Grand Chokmah doing whatever work he had to do as a Colonel, as well as helping out Guy (much to his dismay).

Anise was in Daath, helping Ion to try and stop the reading of the Score.

Natalia was off going all around the world with her duties as Kimlasca's princess, and although she was at home for times, Luke rarely got to spend naught even five minutes with her before she had to leave again.

Ion was in Daath, doing his duties as Fon Master, as well as trying to get everybody to stop reading and following the Score.

Then there was Asch.

This made Luke sigh unhappily.

Asch was out doing something that more than likely pertained to anything that did not include his useless good for nothing replica who couldn't do anything right.

He could barely even kill his own master.

A howl ripped through the night, chilling Luke to the bone even further than the wind was. What was that howl? It didn't sound like the wind.

No, it was far more animalistic than the wind. The Behemoth from the marsh, maybe? No, it couldn't be the Behemoth, Luke told himself, not so close to the city. It didn't even venture outside of the marsh. Could it be a wolf?

Another cry ripped through the air, just as animalistic as the last one. Luke could practically feel his bones chattering in their sockets at the sound. Where was it coming from? It sounded close to the city now.

Luke's hand moved instinctively to where his sword sheathe was- well, where it _should_ have been. He had left it up in the manor, seeing as he hadn't planned on being attacked or running into something on the lower levels of the city.

Something scraped on the cobblestones behind him.

Luke visibly jumped, and turned around, eyes frantically looking everywhere and anywhere to find a weapon, pipe, anything that would at least defend him for a moment. He couldn't find anything.

Then, just at that moment, a small little tabby kitten popped out purring, from behind a wooden crate. Luke let out a sigh of relief, and kneeled down and beckoned the young cat towards him. The orange kitten did so with excitement, and rubbed itself against Luke's outstretched hand until Luke started petting it himself.

"You scared me, you naughty little thing," Luke sighed in relief towards the cat, relieved that it wasn't something else- something more horrible than a little kitten. The kitten only responded with a loud purr.

"Where's your owner?" Luke asked the kitten, looking at it intently as he petted it.

"You don't have a collar," He mused, looking at it as the harsh wind ruffled its fur and his hair. "Are you a stray? Or did you just happen to lose your collar, get free of it?" Luke immediately laughed at himself and what he was doing.

He was _**talking**_ to a _**cat**_. A being that couldn't even understand or reply to him, a human- I mean, a person that could actually walk on four legs and communicate with people.

He wasn't human either. He was just an item that was supposed to be used and then thrown away when he had been used for his value.

Another animalistic growl ripped through the air, causing Luke to stiffen, but he didn't jump in fear for fear of driving away the kitten.

It sounded extremely close this time. Where was it?

Luke had barely any time to react as the crate the kitten had appeared from blew apart and something leaped out from behind it.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Yeah, I'm sorry if it's really horrible...

Please read and review and tell me how much you did or didn't like it.

-Scarpaw Signing Out-

P.S.- I don't own the above mentioned names of Count Dracula or Edward Cullen.


	2. Creature Of The Night

I'm glad you guys liked the first chapter. And, I hope you guys like this chapter just as much as the last.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of the Abyss**

**Chapter 1**

_-A monster isn't a monster if it doesn't have something that scares you-_

Broken pieces of wood seemed to fling themselves at Luke as the kitten ran away in fright.

Luke reacted instantly, not having forgotten everything he had learned on his journey. Of course, even his reflexes weren't enough to keep him from getting hurt. He got a long cut up his right arm and barely avoided getting his right eye taken out by another piece of wood. Yet with his right eye, he still did get cut just under the eye.

Yet, it was the thing that had appeared from behind the box that frightened him the most.

It was a wolf.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Yes, it was definitely a wolf in front of him, and it was male by the way it was standing in an offensive position in front of him.

The wolf had dark black fur, and a crooked tail. It also had piercing green-blue eyes that glared in a way that told Luke that he sure as well better starting running the hell away.

Luke started backing away from it slowly, not wanting to antagonize it seeing as he had no weapons. Yet, it didn't seem to work as the wolf growled and started prowling towards Luke. Apparently it didn't like the idea of letting Luke go. It looked like the wolf was planning on making Luke his next meal, whether Luke liked it or not.

The wolf jumped at him and Luke dived away, barely getting out of the way in time. The wolf's claw caught on his jacket, ripping the sleeve. But, a ripped jacket sleeve was better than not having an arm at all.

Luke had barely recovered from the wolf's initial attack before the wolf lunged at him again. He barely evaded this one as well, but he wasn't as lucky with coming out wound free. He acquired a new cut under his right eye, in the shape of a crescent moon with its points facing up. Also, after he evaded the attack, he slammed into a wall of one of the buildings, knocking him down to his feet.

The wolf seemed to have a cocky smirk on his face as he stalked up to Luke.

Luke scrambled around him, trying to find something to defend himself with. Then, something caught his eye. It was a piece of wood of the box that had shattered when the wolf had appeared. He grabbed it quickly and wailed it at the wolf's snout, the wood making contact causing the wolf to skid a few feet to the right.

Luke scrambled to his feet, bracing himself against the wall as he stood. His leg was in so much pain! But, he bared it. He had to; otherwise he'd be a dead man- replica.

The wolf didn't seem happy with what Luke had done to him. There was blood running from its nose, staining its muzzle with blood and dripping it off of his chin. There was an angry look alight in its blue-green eyes and the wolf was furious as it prowled forward.

It took a minute for Luke to realize that the wolf was doing something as it came towards him. The wolf was gathering fonons- the first, which were abundant at this time of night.

However, by the time Luke had noticed it though, it was too late.

The wolf had already unleashed its attack.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Luke's hands flew to his ears as he winced and cried out in pain. The arte the wolf had unleashed was a more animalistic version of Anise's _Bloody Howling_ and he was pretty sure he now knew where the arte had earned its name from.

He had always seen Anise use it in battle, but not once had he had been on the receiving end of it. And he now knew that it was painful. He would never underestimate the little puppeteers' artes again.

His hands, however, as valor effort as it was of his to keep his ears covered, wasn't enough. The sound still leaked through his hands and to his ears. Underneath his hands, his ears started oozing blood out from the interior, moving slowly.

The arte ended and he had just got his hands from his ears in time to catch the wolf's mouth with the wood he was using as a weapon. However, what the wolf did next scared him more than anybody could imagine.

The wolf _bit_ right through the block of wood.

Luke let go of his once-weapon and did his best to get out of the way. But, it wasn't fast enough. His leg flared in pain again, and crippled him to the ground. It hurt! But, Luke again tried to bare it, but it was no use. It wouldn't support him no matter how much he tried to force it.

The wolf jumped at him, and this time, Luke thought he was done for. The wolf slashed its claws out towards him, and in a last ditch effort, he brought his left arm up to try and protect himself.

The wolf slashed open three deep vertical cuts on his arm, and three slightly lighter ones tracing down his stomach. Luke kicked his foot out, making contact with the wolf's stomach. The wolf sprawled out a few more feet away, but that didn't deter him in the least.

The wolf came at him again, and made a clean strike on Luke's stomach. It wasn't deep or extremely long, seeing as Luke made quick to kick the wolf away, but it was still there.

Luke didn't seem to be aware of how much blood he was losing during his losing battle. The long cut from when the box exploded was bleeding quite nicely, running down his arm and dripping off of his fingers and the cuts under his eyes were making the perfect image of bloody tears pouring from his eyes, left eye contributing much more blood than the right one. His fresh wound on his left arm fell like a water fall as he held his arm down vertically, blood flowing from one cut to the next until it finally came down off of his fingers. His stomach wounds weren't bleeding as bad as the cut under his left eye or the waterfall of blood coming from his left arm, but it was up there with the rest of the wounds.

The wolf growled furiously as it picked it's self up and prowled towards Luke. Luke tried to pick up his arms to protect himself, but they were sluggish. He felt his mind slowly losing focus as he finally realized how much blood he was really losing. It was the end for him- he was going to die.

With a small realization, Luke let out a weak laugh.

What would Asch say if he saw him now?

He would call him pathetic.

And he was.

He was just a pathetic replica that could never be as good as his original.

Asch wouldn't be in this situation if he was fighting this wolf.

No. The wolf would already be dead by now.

Besides, Asch wouldn't let himself be caught without his sword like Luke.

Luke was just a stupid, pathetic, idiotic dreck of a replica that couldn't fight his way out of a paper bag.

And Luke knew that.

Bracing himself as much as he could without wounding himself further, Luke awaited the fatal strike that would end his life and get rid of a useless replica like himself.

But, it never came…

Instead, a familiar voice rang out in his ears.

"_Piercing Line!_"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Uh, yeah... Sorry if I made Luke OOC, I'm still working on that seeing as I haven't really wrote Luke's character Post-Akzeriuth yet. I only just got there in **From Heaven Above** and **Resurrection of the Promised Lands** takes place after the end of the game. So, yeah, I'm sorry.

Please read and review and tell me what you think!

-Scarpaw Signing Out-


	3. Musings

I'm glad everybody likes the story so far! XD I hope you guys like this next chapter.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of the Abyss**

**Chapter 2**

Natalia was fretting. Not mother henning, like Guy would be, just fretting. Of course, she had a right to be fretting, especially considering the state she had found Luke in.

Natalia had already given Luke a pint of her blood fonons to help him, but there wasn't anything more she could do. He had lost a lot of blood, and it didn't seem like normal healing artes could help him any. There hadn't been time to waste with starting to help treat him, meaning no time to dig up the castle's medical records to find Luke's blood fonon type. So, Natalia, being an O- blood fonon type, gave blood for Luke. He was her cousin after all, replica or not. In fact, it didn't matter whether or not he was her cousin or not, she would have given the blood if it was just about anybody.

That caused Natalia to find something to take her mind off of the current problem. Sure, she was worrying about Luke, but worrying about him right now would do nothing but increase her blood fonon pressure.

That's really what she was musing about- blood fonon types. What they'd all be based on their personalities.

Luke, well to her, before Akzeriuth, Natalia would say he'd have been an AB+, for how he acted. He was selfish and didn't care about anybody, like the AB+ blood fonon type. AB+ blood fonons were the type that could take blood fonons from anybody, but could only give blood fonons to other AB+ blood fonon types. That's how Luke acted before Akzeriuth.

But, then, after Akzeriuth, Luke made any and every attempt to change himself. He struggled to be nice and selfless, like the O- blood. O- blood fonons were the type of blood fonons was the blood fonon type that could be given to any and every blood fonon type, but O- could only receive blood fonons from its own type. Luke tried to be an O- after Akzeriuth, but he wasn't quite there yet. If Natalia could rate him as a blood fonon type, she's more than likely say that he was an AB+ blood fonon type, maybe an A+.

Thinking of the rest of their group, Natalia thought of what they'd be. Ion would be either an O+ or an O- blood fonon type right off the bat. He was always so nice and doing anything anybody asked, never asking for anything in return. Anise would probably be a B+ blood fonon type, more for Natalia's beliefs on the thirteen year old than anything else. It was quite rare to come across a thirteen year old as… extroverted, we'll say, as Anise, just like it was rare to come across the B+ blood fonon type.

Then there was Jade. Jade was a hard read for everybody, making it extremely to decipher anything about him. There was really only thing any of them knew about him- he was extremely sarcastic. Natalia though would probably rate Jade as B- blood fonon type, just based on her own thoughts of the Colonel. It was quite rare to come across someone like Jade and there will probably be no one like him around ever again. Following Jade was Guy. Guy was sincere, though he did have gynophobia. Yet, besides that fact Guy was a nice guy in general, so Natalia would rate him an A- blood fonon type.

Finally there was Tear and herself. Tear, being a soldier and raised by the Oracle Knight's ways, was inclined to help people no matter how cold her exterior seemed to some people. However, Tear was still nice, and that gave Natalia the inclination to rate Tear as an O+ blood fonon type. She always gave away and expected little to nothing in return. Then there was herself. Looking back at how she was before Akzeriuth, she would probably rate herself as an AB+ blood fonon type by the way she acted. Yet after Akzeriuth, and as they traveled, she probably would rate herself the same as Luke, A+ or maybe A-, nothing like her own O- blood fonon type.

The sound of the door to the hallway she was currently in snapped Natalia from her musings. Who could possibly be here this late at night?

She then saw who it was. It was a girl, about her early twenties. The girl had steely gray hair that came just past her shoulders with eerie dark amber eyes. She wore a tattered white doctors' coat and underneath it was a dark blue shirt that seemed to be intact with black pants whose bottoms were torn. Her feet were bare. She held a briefcase in both her hands and she was walking towards Natalia and the door that behind was behind her, holding her injured cousin.

"Hello," The girl said to Natalia, a sweet smile that seemed oddly out of place on her face. "My name is Lanna. I'm a doctor that specializes in wolf attacks. I heard from one of the guards that someone was attacked?" The last sentence was a question, and Natalia assumed that the girl, Lanna, was looking for permission to help Luke and do all that she could for him. Natalia nodded, not quite trusting the girl.

"Yes," Natalia replied, and Lanna nodded.

"Would you mind…?" Lanna let her question die, a curious look on her face that too, didn't seem like it belonged on her face, but Natalia caught the gist of the question. She still didn't quite trust Lanna, not knowing if she was legit or not, but right now she was all she had to help Luke.

"Not at all," Natalia answered. "Follow me." And Natalia led her down the hall to the door Luke was behind, questions running through her mind about the girl.

The door opened, revealing a room that resembled one of the rooms you'd see in Belkend's medical center. In one of the beds in the corner was the unconscious figure of Luke, parts of his body swathed in bandages.

"Is he the victim?" Lanna asked Natalia, looking at Luke. Natalia nodded, and followed the girl over to her cousin.

His bleeding hadn't completely stopped, and Natalia suspected that the only reason why the bandages weren't completely soaked in Luke's blood right now was because of how tightly the bandages were tied. Yet, the bandages still showed signs of blood. The red hue was slowly creeping its way onto the top layer of bandages, still slightly invisible on some of them.

"Do you know what type of wolf did this to him?" Lanna asked Natalia, and she shook her head.

"I'm sorry," Natalia apologized. "I'm afraid I don't."

"It can just be a description of the wolf," Lanna offered, a kind smile on her face that looked odd as well on her face. Natalia really didn't trust the girl, but as she thought before, she really didn't have another choice.

"It was…" She paused, thinking. It had been dark out, and she hadn't really been paying attention that much. Her center of attention had mainly been on Luke and getting him out of there.

Slowly but surely the wolf's appearance snuck its way out of her memories.

"Black." Natalia said instantly. "Black as night, with a crooked tail. Its eyes were…" She hesitated. "A dark forest green, I think." Lanna nodded, and opened her briefcase after setting it on a table.

"I know that wolf." Lanna responded. "He has caused plenty of trouble in the Belkend area. I've been attacked myself by him on occasion." Natalia was shocked- she couldn't believe it, not with Lanna keeping a straight face.

"Do you have a name for him?" Natalia asked curiously, wondering if the doctors at Belkend had given the wolf a name of some sort.

"We do." Lanna nodded, looking through the briefcase for something. Natalia looked at Lanna curiously when she didn't tell her the wolf's name.

"What do you call him?" She asked Lanna, curious. Lanna pulled a syringe out of the briefcase, seemingly looking at the contents of the syringe- which was orange, from what Natalia saw –before placing it back in the briefcase and searching some more. Finally, Lanna responded with:

"We call him Raphael."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

So you know, blood fonon types are the same as ours- or at least in this story they are. I'm sorry if you guys don't like that.

To be honest, this isn't even where I planned the story to head. I had it all planned out, but then my imagination drove me out from the smooth path to the rocky one, and quite honestly, I like the rocky one better than the smooth one.

So, do you like this chapter? Please Read and Review and tell me what you think!

-Scarpaw Signing Out-


	4. The Medicine And The Wolf

Paw-chan is back with the awaited third chapter of **Monster I've Become!** Here we learn the meaning behind the name of Raphael as well as something else that's shocking...

Side Note- this chapter is 1940 words long not including Author notes! Longest chapter yet! ^__^ Yayz! Read the chapter!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of the Abyss**

**Chapter 3**

"Raphael?" Natalia inquired. "Why Raphael?" The name though, Raphael, admittedly did seem a little familiar to her, but she couldn't remember from where. Had she talked to one of Lanna's colleagues before? It may have been possible.

"I'm from a village out near Tataroo Valley," Lanna replied. "We follow the teachings of Yulia, of course, but our ancestors also had their own beliefs. They believed in angels and such, and according to them there were seven archangels. Raphael was the name of the archangel of death. Ah, here it is." Lanna swiftly and smoothly changed the subject as she pulled out a syringe. It wasn't quite a liquid gold color, and it seemed in between that color and resin.

"What's that?" Natalia asked. She knew it was some sort of medicine, but what type of medicine was it?

"Experimentally safe," Lanna replied, sticking a needle at the top of the syringe and aligning it with a vein on Luke's arm. Natalia's brow furrowed.

"What do you mean, 'experimentally safe'?" Natalia asked, not liking the sound of it one bit. Lanna made to push the syringe's needle into Luke's vein, but Natalia grabbed her hand and stopped her.

"What do you mean, 'experimentally safe'?" Natalia repeated her question. "If this is going to make Luke worse I'm not letting you use it." Lanna gave Natalia a steely glare, but sighed, and pulled her hand away, still holding the syringe.

"We still don't know much about these wolves," Lanna replied finally. "All we know is that they aren't like normal wolves. Raphael has a pack he's with, all just as fierce as him. This is medicine that we've been testing. We're still not completely sure about its side effects, but we do know that everybody we've used it on has survived- they've lived." Natalia hesitated, but nodded.

"Fine," She said. "You can go ahead." Lanna smiled, and put the syringe to a vein in Luke's arm, and pushed the plunger down, injecting about half of the syringe into his arm.

Pulling the used needle out of the syringe, Lanna threw it in the waste basket and put the syringe back into her briefcase and snapped it shut.

Lanna then moved back to Luke's bed, and with one swift move she had moved Luke so he was lying on his side, and angled his head, like she was anticipating something. Lanna looked at the watch on her wrist, and then back to Luke.

Luke started convulsing, as if he was having a seizure. Lanna remained perfectly calm, and Natalia felt anger flare up in her. Obviously by the way Lanna was acting, she had known that this was going to happen!

"You knew this was going to happen!" Natalia accused Lanna as Luke's convulsions slowly came to a stop. The accused merely looked at her watch and put a finger to Luke's neck, timing his pulse. When she was done and removed her hand from Luke's neck and turned her attention away from the red head unconscious on the bed, Lanna faced Natalia and looked her in the eye.

"You asked me what I meant by experimentally safe," Lanna said, voice steely. "I answered you. You never asked what the medicine would cause. Luke's alive; shouldn't you be happy about that?" Natalia bit her lip in an un-princess like way, immediately feeling bad. She cast a glance to the bed where Luke was. You were visibly able to see that he was breathing, and if you didn't pay attention to his bandages, it would give him the illusion that he was just merely sleeping. Lanna was right, she should be happy that Luke was alive. Who knows what might have happened if she hadn't shown up? Luke would probably have been dead by now, if not soon.

"You're right," Natalia admitted finally to the doctor, and Lanna gave off another one of her smiles that Natalia felt didn't really belong on her face. Truth be told, Natalia felt like there was really something insincere about them. Like Lanna really didn't mean anything she said when she had that smile on her face, that it was all just a game to her.

"I should get going," Lanna said finally after a few moments of awkward silence, sweeping past Natalia. "Luke will be fine. He just needs a few days of bed rest and time for those wounds of his to heal and he'll be better than ever." Natalia began to say something, but whatever it was was stopped by Lanna cutting her off.

"I know what you're going to say something about me staying, so I'm going to be blunt," Lanna began, her tone not quite icy, yet not quite warm. "I can't stay. I need to get going. I should have actually been home by now, but seeing as I stopped to help out, I'm not. Just trust me, all he needs is bed rest and then he'll be good as new. He'll be like a new person- almost." Lanna gave a smirk, but Natalia's attention had been on Luke, so she hadn't noticed.

Lanna swept out of the room unnoticed, and the room was so eerily quiet that it was like the silverette had never been there at all.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

He was wandering around a black abyss, not quite sure where he was or even where he was going. He was just wandering around, not quite sure whether he was alive or he was dead. He was still able to feel pain, but he wasn't sure if that meant he was alive or not. Besides, dead people can feel pain as spirits, can't they? The ones that go to Hell, at least, right?

If he was dead that was surely where he was- Hell. A thieving replica like him didn't deserve to go to Heaven- he stole his original's life, so therefore he had no right to go the Heaven. But, then again, he wasn't completely sure whether or not he was dead, right? For all he knew, he could be alive. But, if that was the case, where was he? And how in the world did he get to this black abyss that was void of any and all life- besides him, that is.

That's when he saw it. It was just sitting there, like it had been waiting for him. Like it had known that he was going to eventually wander to that place and stumble upon it. It stared up at him with eyes that seemed to pierce him to the very core. Like it had known all along that it would end like this.

'It' was a wolf. A wolf with goldish red fur, and a gold ring circling around its neck. Its tail was tipped with gold, as well as its ears. The wolf's nose was black, and its eyes were the same emerald green as his. The wolf's eyes stared at him with a strange sort of determination- like it was determined to live. Underneath the wolf's one eye was a crescent moon scar, and the wolf bared its teeth at him revealing pointy canines that seemed very lethal. He took a step back, afraid that the wolf would attack him and leave him dying in this black abyss. The wolf growled, standing with its hackles raised, emeralds glaring seemingly at Luke.

However, when the wolf leaped for the attack, when he cringed and braced himself for the attack, the attack didn't come. Instead, there was the sound of snarling behind him, and he turned around to see two wolves fighting. The one was the red one from just moments before; the other was the black one that he remembered that had attacked him.

The two wolves were snarling at each other and snapping at the others' muzzles, as if they were two alpha males fighting for dominance over a pack. However, just as quickly as the fighting started, the black wolf seemed to toss the red one away and vanished into thin air. The red wolf, though, stayed.

He stood away from the wolf, unsure of what to do. What would the wolf do if he approached it? Would it attack him? Would it run away? He just wasn't sure of what to do.

He watched as the wolf slowly got to its feet, shaking itself out, allowing its fur to ruffle out slightly. The wolf then licked one of its paws and seemed to try to clean off the scant amount of blood on its muzzle. It then turned its gaze to him and approached him slowly, as if it was getting ready to attack him.

However, the wolf did no such thing, and instead just sat in front of him, looking up at him with big emerald eyes. A small whine came from the wolf's throat, and it seemed to stretch its head out towards him, its ears lying flat on its head.

A bit hesitant, he reached his hand out towards the wolf, slightly afraid that his hand was going to get bit by the wolf. When the wolf showed no such interest, he put his hand on the wolf's head and nearly jumped with what happened next.

The wolf began dissipating, enveloped in a golden light. The gold light centered itself around the palm of his hand, before finally the whole wolf was just a golden ball of light in his outstretched palm. Then, the golden light sunk into his palm, as if he was absorbing the wolf.

He screamed in pain as the golden light that used to be a wolf raced through his body, feeling unwanted changes in his body taking place. He felt his bones cracking, breaking, mending, realigning, changing shape, changing form, changing back and then the cycle repeating again. His ears erupted into a world of pain as his nose burned like there was no tomorrow. Blood poured from his ears like an overflowing river as his ear drums burst and then were replaced with new ones. His teeth felt like they all were being viciously ripped out and replaced with new ones with a nail gun. The teeth were newer and sharper than ever, with his four canines seemingly sharper than ever- as well as the longest ones of the new set of teeth. Then he felt the process repeat and his teeth go back to normal. He felt his organs painfully changing places, moving one place before painfully moving themselves back to their original spots.

What was happening to him? Why was he going through this? He screeched in pain a second time, but this time the scream seemed more like a howl. Like a wolf's howl of pain.

After what seemed like an eternity, the pain stopped and he fell to his knees, gasping for breath that he had been so desperately deprived of during the painful ordeal. He didn't understand- what had happened to him? What had caused him to go through that awful pain?

As if he had called it, a small hand mirror appeared at his side, as if saying, 'look into me and I will tell you all the answers you seek'. Cautiously and painfully he moved his hand over to the small mirror and picked it up. Lifting up heavy eyelids, he looked at himself in the mirror.

And a red-gold wolf with a black nose and emerald green eyes looked back.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The end was a point of view I've been toying with in some of my other stories that I wanted to use, because it seemed it fit. It's basically third person still, yet its written amost like first person.

So, how did you guys like the chapter? Was it good, bad, dreadful, or okay? How about the shocker? Did you guys expect that? I'm pretty sure some of you did, by some of the reviews I got.

Please read and review and tell me what you think!

~~Paw-Chan Signing Out~~


	5. Luke's Reaction

Hey, Paw-Chan is back with the fourth chapter! ^_^ This chapter is basically all Luke-centric, except for a small part at the end. I hope you guys like the chapter,

**Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of the Abyss**

**Chapter 4**

The mirror fell to the ground in the black abyss, glassy surface unmarred by the fall. Luke shook, not comprehending. He must have been seeing things- yeah, that was it- he was seeing things. What he saw couldn't be right.

He wasn't a wolf now- was he? All he did was get attacked by a wolf- and that didn't automatically make him a wolf- did it? No, it didn't.

Unless it was a werewolf. Luke immediately shook his head at the idea- that wasn't right! Werewolves weren't real. They were fiction- made up! Werewolves were just made up to scare little kids from wandering away from their parents.

But, it fit, didn't it? Luke recalled the scary stories they had shared on the Albiore, and before Akzeriuth, on the boat rides and such. He remembered Anise saying once as well as Guy and even Jade- serious or not, Luke had never been able to tell -about the excruciating pain the victims went through to become the werewolves. Stories that, of course, had been passed down from old books and such, but it certainly did fit.

And yet Luke refused to believe it. He couldn't be a werewolf- could he? Was it even possible? Was there even a cure to being a werewolf? Luke didn't remember Anise or Guy (or Jade, he added silently) saying a thing about cures. All he remembered was something about silver and werewolves not being able to touch it or something.

Gah, it was all so confusing! Luke didn't get any of this! Why did this have to happen to him anyways? Why did he have to be the one with all of the bad luck? Luke sighed and bent down and picked up the mirror again, looking back into it. The wolf stared back at him, its head cocked to the side as if it didn't understand or was unsure about something. Luke sighed, expression downcast, and the wolf's expression became sad as well.

Luke placed his hand on the mirror, not being surprised when the wolf put its paw on the mirror. The wolf _was_ him after all- or, at least, that was what he was assuming. If that was really him, what was he going to do? He really didn't want to tell anybody- he could already imagine Father wanting to kill him on the spot for just what he had become. He probably would be able to tell Natalia, though the problem was- would she even believe him? Probably not.

There was no one he could tell about this, and he was not going to tell Mother. Mother was probably already worrying herself sick (if she hadn't already) over his condition. Besides, what help was telling anybody? They'd only be there for emotional consolation- if anybody would be willing to give it, anyways. They wouldn't know or understand what it was he was going through.

Anyways, what was he supposed to do if those legends and folktales that had been passed around their group on their travels were wrong? What if he had to go through the transformation every night instead of once a month on the full moon? What would he do then?

Luke sighed- this blind panicking would get him nowhere. All he would get from panic was confusion. And confusion is never a good thing in situations where you're panicking. He wondered briefly for a moment what Asch would do in his situation when he realized that Asch would have never gotten into this situation in the first place- he would never be caught dead without his sword, so he would have never gotten his ass royally handed to him by a wolf, of the fictional type or not.

Then, it hit him. Asch! How was he going to keep this a secret from his original? He sure as hell did not want him finding out. Asch pretty much had free reign of his replica's mind. He could do pretty much anything without Luke finding out about it until it was too late. And this was definitely one thing he did _not_ want Asch getting a hold of. Who knew how bad Asch was going to scorn him about this?!

Oh, he just couldn't let Asch get a hold of this. He would constantly be called a freak as well as the usual dreck and replica! Luke let out a frustrated cry, the mirror falling once again. The cry seemed to echo until it finally dispersed into the darkness of the abyss, the dropped mirror sinking into the floor, disappearing from sight.

It was as if he was being kicked out of this place- this black Abyss.

And Luke didn't know whether to be grateful or not.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

A girl looked out the window of a room, located in a house, in the middle of a village, hidden in the middle of a forest. She was about seventeen years old, and she had a crescent moon scar underneath her right eye. Her hair was a mahogany red, and her eyes reflecting off the glass of the window showed them to be an extremely light blue- as if she was blind.

"Kelly." The voice that reverberated through the room was neither harsh nor soft, and the girl, Kelly, didn't move her head- she saw the reflection in the window.

It was a man of about twenty two, maybe twenty three years of age. He had eyes that were a green-blue that seemed to pierce through your very soul. His hair was a glossy and yet at the same time, dull, black that seemed to shine yet not underneath the lights in the room. The man's nose was crooked, she saw through the window, and it looked like it was still bleeding. He wore tattered jeans that only hung down to his knees- the bottom half ripped off, and an open white button up shirt. He had a scar in the shape of a full moon on his chest, with it compromised of three lines.

"Kelly, your father wants you to be with him while I give my report," The man told the girl, and she glared at the window.

"Tell my _father,_" She spat the word 'father' with disgust, "To go rot in hell, Raphael."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

So, how did you guys like the chapter? How about the end? Did you see that coming? You probably didn't... Oh well! I hope you guys liked it!

Please Read and Review and tell me what you think!

~~Paw-Chan Signing Out~~


	6. Raphael, Kelly, Lanna

Sorry about the wait. I honestly didn't mean to make you wait that long. I just had so much stuff get piled up, and before I knew it, _Monster I've Become _was at the bottom of the TO DO pile. But, never fear, it's finally done, and you can rest assured about it! ^__^

You get to learn about the mysterious Raphael and Kelly this chapter! ^__^ Enjoy the chapter!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of the Abyss**

_Recap: After getting attacked in the dead of night, Luke found himself in a black abyss. Wandering around a bit, Luke found a red wolf in the abyss as well. At first he thought it was going to attack him- but it didn't. Instead, it attacked a look-a-like of the wolf that had attacked him. When Luke touched the wolf, it had been absorbed into his body, and Luke found himself now a replica and a werewolf. At the end of the last chapter was introduced a new figure to the scene- the mysterious Raphael and Kelly._

_**Chapter 5**_

Raphael's eyes narrowed at the young girl.

"I'm sorry Kelly," Raphael told the girl as he strode across the room, and pulled her to her feet by her arm. "But I've orders." Kelly let out a grumble and yanked her arm from Raphael's grasp and stormed out of her room. Sighing, Raphael followed her.

"What's wrong with you Kelly?" Raphael asked, trying to make conversation. He knew there was something up with her, but what? She had acted like this since day one of entering the pack.

"Wrong with me?" Kelly stopped in the middle of the hallway and spun around so she was facing him. "Oh what possibly could be wrong with me?" Her voice was starting to rise, and it was gaining a sarcastic undertone to it.

Raphael sighed as Kelly stopped speaking and turned back to continue walking. Now he knew what was wrong.

Kelly resented what she was. Not that it was uncommon, even Raphael resented what he was for the first few weeks. But Kelly had been part of the clan for three months now… Why was she still showing such animosity towards their kind?

"You wanted me?" Kelly's voice came across cold, and Raphael watched her father's expression.

"Yes, I did." Her father replied, brushing off his daughter's harsh tone. "As you know, you're my oldest daughter-" If he noticed her scoff, he took no heed "-so that means you'll have to take over the pack when I die."

Raphael looked, eyes darting between Kelly and the Alpha, ready to spring in to stop Kelly from punching someone if he had to.

It was no secret amongst the pack that Kelly didn't want to be pack leader- or even part of the pack for that matter. Raphael had lost count of how many times Kelly had tried to run away- and had been brought back kicking and screaming with murder written on her face.

"Of course _Father_," Kelly's voice was honey sweet, causing Raphael to flinch. If her father took notice, once again, he took no heed. He just kept speaking as if there was nothing wrong.

"And as you'll be leader, you need to know everything the pack's been doing- public and non-public." He told her calmly. Raphael watched Kelly closely- she was a damn good actress and could portray her emotions in the exact opposite way she felt.

"Of course." Kelly's voice was steady and calm- the exact opposite of what she had just been a few minutes ago. The Alpha nodded, smiling.

"Great." He smiled. "Now Kelly, I'd like you to meet my- ah… associate, Miss Legretta."

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

Headache. That was the first thing that registered in his mind as he woke up. He had one hell of a headache. Placing a hand on his hurting head, Luke eased himself up into a sitting position, looking around the place he was in- it was definitely not the alley he had been attacked in. It looked almost exactly like…

"Luke! You shouldn't be sitting up yet!"

Scratch that. It _was_ the castle's medic ward. Natalia just confirmed it. But how did he get there? And when did Natalia get back?

_Last night._ A nagging voice told him in the back of his head. _She saved your ass from getting completely kicked around by that wolf that was treating you as its own personal chew toy._ The voice wasn't Asch, but the words- almost -reminded Luke of his wayward Original.

"Natalia? When'd you get back to Baticul?"

Last Night. Of course- she was the one who saved his hide when he was nearly killed by that wolf- or would werewolf be a more appropriate term? At least, if last night really was last night.

"Late last night," A frown was upon her face as she gave him a look. "I came back just in time to keep you from getting killed by a wolf." Luke smiled weakly- looked like it really did happen.

"I have a knack for trouble, don't I?" He laughed weakly, Natalia frowning once more.

"You really shouldn't worry Aunt Suzanne like this," She reprimanded him. A frown flitted over Luke's face- what would he tell Mother? _Would_ he tell Mother?

"Did you tell her?" Luke looked over at Natalia. She shook her head.

"Not yet." Natalia replied. "I wanted to make sure that you'd be alright before I told Aunt Suzanne."

"R-right," Luke agreed, looking down at the white bedspread. Thoughts started cluttering his mind, and no matter how hard he tried to push them away, they always came back.

Why did this always happen to him?

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

"Legretta?" A hand went on Kelly's hip. "Aren't you one of the God Generals?" Legretta raised an eyebrow and looked at the red head.

"Why does that matter?" Legretta asked, and Kelly rolled her eyes.

"What would one of the God Generals want with us?" Kelly demanded. "'Sides there's talk that your commandant was killed." Legretta placed her hand on one of her gun holsters, but she was beat to the shot.

"Kelly, be polite." Her 'father' ordered lightly. Kelly rolled her eyes and her arms crossed lightly over her chest.

"Your daughter is a feisty one," Legretta noted. "Why did you want her here Aifred?" Aifred chuckled lightly as he placed his chin on top of his laced fingers.

"Kelly is to lead the pack upon my death." Aifred explained. "I felt it necessary for her to come today. And, as you should remember, Raphael here is my second in command. He will also be helping Kelly when I pass on."

"I see." Legretta commented, her eyes fixing on the young girl. "She is young- how do you expect her to handle the responsibility?"

"If I'm not mistaken Asch the Bloody is her age, as is my second in command," Aifred shot back. "And Arietta the Wild and Sync the Tempest are younger than her." Van nodded.

"You're not mistaken." Legretta agreed. "It's just that they've been with the Order since they were young. Kelly's been with your pack for what, three months? And from what I've heard, she keeps trying to run away."

"That is true." Aifred relented. "Yet, that's only because she's not very adjusted to pack life. That, and her turning had been very traumatic. If it hadn't been for Raphael, she would've died along with her parents." Kelly flinched a little at that- she hadn't, nor ever would, forget what had happened.

She and her parents had been on their way to Engeve when they had been attacked by a pack of ligers. Out of the forest, a black wolf had appeared and took down the ligers single handedly. Her parents were already gone when the wolf had turned on her.

"Did you take care of the job I asked you to do?" Legretta asked, turning her attention back to Aifred.

Job? What job? Kelly wondered. Briefly Kelly thought back to Raphael's nose. It had looked broken. At first she had brushed it off, think he had gotten into another fight, but maybe he had been the one taking care of whatever job it was?

Raphael grimaced, and Aifred turned towards his second in command. He raised an eyebrow at the seventeen year old, and he gave a weak laugh.

"Uh, sort of?" He responded, not liking Legretta's displeased look. Aifred, however, seemed to look sort of pleased.

"Explain yourself," Aifred ordered, tone representing one of someone who was displeased with an underling instead of partial delight.

"Well, I had gotten into Baticul alright," Raphael explained, the only ones understanding Legretta and Aifred. "However, before I could _kill _him, I had a sort of problem…" Kelly gasped.

"You wanted him to _kill_ someone?" Kelly gasped, appalled. Aifred sighed, and waved his hand.

"Kelly, daughter," Aifred sighed, "By the sound of it, Raphael did not kill the poor boy, is that right?" Kelly looked over to Raphael who nodded.

"I am sorry sir," Raphael, apologized. "But, there had been a girl. The princess, I assume. She was quick to come to his aid. I had no choice but to retreat, lest I get killed myself." Aifred nodded, while Legretta looked outraged. Kelly had to try not to laugh- she was better at hiding her emotions than her.

"Did he turn into… _your_ kind?" She finally growled. Raphael opened his mouth to speak, but Aifred beat him.

"Of course not," Aifred interrupted. "It's not possible. Raphael hasn't been with us long enough for the glands that allow us to transform others to become mature enough for that to happen. Rest assured, the boy is very much _human._" There was a twinkle in Aifred's eye, and Kelly knew he was lying. She was told that once you were with the clan for half a year, you were able to turn others into their kind. Raphael had been with the clan for more than a year.

Not that Legretta knew, obviously.

She nodded, and turned to leave.

"Have a safe trip back to Daath," Aifred called, tone happy. "And don't forget our agreement."

Legretta didn't turn around, but she did nod. She left, and as soon as Aifred saw her leave through the gates to their village, Aifred turned towards Raphael.

"First in command?" He simply asked, and Raphael smirked.

Lanna was the first in command, Kelly knew. She was also the best healer they had. She was a prize to the clan, and she had helped a lot of their people survive the transformation.

"Lanna should be coming back soon." Raphael replied. "Executed just as you ordered- though, I wasn't expecting the Kimlascan Princess to intervene." Kelly looked between Aifred and Raphael, confused.

"Wha-?" She asked, and Aifred sighed.

"Kelly, it's time for you to learn everything." Aifred explained. "All my mistakes, and my attempts to redeem them. And when I finally perish, you will be left with the burden of making everything right." Kell hesitated, but before she could say anything, Aifred continued.

"Now, I know you still don't accept us as our family, you still hate what you are." Aifred stated calmly, "But, I know despite that, you will make a good leader. That's why you need to know the truth. And, I will be sending you out on supervised trips."

Kelly sighed, and took a seat. She was sure that this was going to take a while.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

_**Close To One Month Later…**_

"I can never get over how pretty the sea is," Kelly sighed, leaning on the railing edge. They were- they, meaning her and Lanna -on a trip to see one of the other clans. Lanna nodded, standing next to the girl.

"It is," She agreed. "I'm going to go below deck. Am I safe to assume you won't jump deck?" Kelly laughed, and nodded, Lanna cracking a smile of her own. She disappeared down below.

Kelly stayed up for a bit, rolling back and forth on her heels. A slight wind started blowing, causing her to shiver, so she made to turn to head below deck…

And ran right into somebody.

"Yowch!" She yelped as they both fell backwards. "Sorry about that." The boy shook his head.

"It's my fault," The boy insisted. Kelly sighed.

"Kelly," She introduced herself. "And you are?" She looked over the boy- short red hair, light red, not her mahogany shade. He had emerald eyes, and a crescent scar under one of his eyes- similar to hers.'''

"Luke fon Fabre." He held out his hand to shake. Kelly smiled, and went to shake Luke's hand.

"Kelly." Lanna's voice cut through them like a knife. Kelly turned as well as Luke to watch her walk up towards them.

"Yes, Lanna?" She asked, looking over at her caretaker. She opened her mouth to scold the girl, but her eyes fell on Luke. Kelly looked between the two before saying, "Meet Luke before, Lanna?"

Lanna's eerie amber eyes glanced over Luke. He stiffened, there was something weird about her, he could tell. She seemed to notice, because she gave a very… _wolf_-like grin.

"Hello Fabre," She grinned eerily. "Last I saw, your cousin was worried over you. Have your… _wolf problem_ figured out?" Luke took a shocked step back, and Kelly's eyes widened.

"Lanna, you don't mean…?" Kelly started, but Luke grasped his hand on his sword as he snarled,

"Who are you?" He took a step back from Kelly as well, regarding the girls carefully. Lanna gave a small laugh.

"I wouldn't attack if I were you." Lanna warned, as Luke drew his sword. No one was on deck, so there'd be no panic aroused by him drawing his sword.

"Why not?" He growled, and Lanna stepped in front of Kelly protectively.

"You will make an enemy you don't want if you hurt Kelly," Lanna growled back. "Now stand down." Luke hesitated, but held his stance.

"Stand down." She ordered again, and there was a bigger hesitation on Luke's part.

"Luke, stand down." Kelly snapped, voice cutting from behind Lanna.

Luke didn't know what came over him, but he put his sword away. He went to redraw it, but Kelly's voice cut through once more.

"Take off your sword belt and kick it over to me." Kelly told Luke, and Luke undid the belt and found himself kicking the sword towards the red head.

Luke took the chance to look at Kelly, and noticed that her eyes were slightly glazed as she forced him to do that stuff. He looked to Lanna who picked up his sword, pulling the bandaged hilt out to examine the blade more closely.

"Ho ho!" She laughed. "Brave one, aren't you? Silver; brave choice for the ones who are murdered by that very metal." Luke knew that. That's why the hilt was wrapped in the bandages. That way he could still use it and not burn himself. When he had done his first trials of what he could or could not do, he had tried touching silver. Depending on the amount of silver in the object and how long he touched it, he would get varying degree of burns- which were very hard to explain to Natalia, mind you.

"Who are you?" Luke asked once more, and Lanna sighed.

"I'm the one who kept you alive after you were attacked by Raphael." Lanna conceded. "And before you say thanks, don't- it's my responsibility to keep fledglings alive." Luke raised an eyebrow.

"Fledglings?" He asked, and Kelly nodded.

"It's annoying," She sighed, "But they call you a fledgling until you're six months in- until you've had six transformations under the full moon." Luke hesitated, before finally saying,

"You're… You're-" But Luke didn't get to finish, because Lanna cut through.

"Werewolves?" Her amber eyes seemed to glow. "Yes we are. And as you obviously figured out, you are one too." She was grinning like a fool, and the wind blew lightly around her, letting Luke see as her hair blew away from her ear that she had a cut around her ear, in a full moon shape.

"I am our Alpha's first in command," Lanna continued. "I would sooner die for him than give him up." Luke eyed Kelly.

"Then why so protective over Kelly?" Luke inquired, staring at the girl.

"I am to take the Alpha's place," Kelly said at last. "When he dies. I will become the new Alpha and lead the clan through troubles that are yet to come." Kelly looked over Luke, pondering.

'He has to be the one that that Legretta woman wanted Raphael to kill.' She determined. 'That's why Lanna recognized him. But why? Why would the God Generals want someone like him dead?'

Kelly sighed, confused. Taking Luke's sword from Lanna, she tossed it back to its rightful owner, turning her back to the sea.

"_We'r_e going down below." Kelly told Lanna, who moved to go by the younger. Kelly turned to look at Luke with piercing aquamarine eyes.

"If you don't want any trouble," Kelly advised Luke. "You'd best stay away from the God Generals." And she turned on her heel and strode down into the lower cabins of the ship.

Luke shook his head, staring at Kelly in disbelief, buckling his sword belt back around his waist. Stay away from the God Generals? He already knew that.

_**X.x.X.x.X**_

I'm sorry if some of this doesn't match up with the game- I haven't played it in a while, and my brother just got it back and I haven't had a chance yet to play it again. But never fear, I'll start playing it as soon as I find it, then my updates should be quicker! (And yes, I know there's an anime, I just can't get some of the episodes to work for me...)

So how was it? Good? Bad? Surprising? Tell me what you think!

~~Paw-Chan Signing Out~~


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